In the summer of 2020, it felt like nearly every brand was announcing changes and pledges related to DE&I—including within marketing.

Since that time, influencer marketing has arguably only become more popular, though reports have found that Black influencers are often not only paid less than white influencers, but also not as likely to receive gifts from brands.

Pay inequity is an issue that persists: Yuvay Ferguson, an associate professor at Howard University, told us it is often brought on by a lack of transparency. “You just don’t know what you don’t know,” she told us.

Marketers who work within the space are working on ways to alleviate the issue, though they said fixes won’t happen overnight.

Pay inequality persists

In December 2021, influencer education platform The Influencer League and PR agency MSL US released a study that found that Black creators, on average, made 35% less than white creators.

• While the issue has gotten more attention in the last year, Brittany Bright, founder of The Influencer League, told us that efforts to address it are still in their early stages.
• “This is not something that I ever thought we were going to see drastic changes from in just a calendar year,” she said. “I think this is something that we’re just now truly getting a chance to dive into.”
• Bright said she’s been encouraged by the number of POC-owned influencer management agencies that have popped up recently, particularly those who work with a “primarily POC roster,” given their ability to help creators secure deals.

LaToya Shambo, founder and CEO of influencer agency Black Girl Digital, told us that pay transparency can be difficult given that payment structures are often dependent on where a deal comes from—be it a PR firm, agency, manager, or the brand directly.

Continue reading here.—KH

Each Tuesday, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Ira Maher is VP of strategy at The Basement, an integrated agency based in Indianapolis.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? We had the good fortune to work with Snapchat, during the platform’s early stages as an advertising product, to build a custom solution for our client, Transitions Lenses. The advertising-AR innovation allowed target consumers (under 34) to “try on” and experience the brand’s latest product innovation outside of an eyecare practice. The concept originated when our team was playing around with Snapchat’s first Spectacles product in the midst of a strategy sprint for the client; it was entirely organic and Snapchat welcomed the partnership to build something truly custom. Best of all, the tool resonated with the target and was eventually leveraged in the brand’s worldwide advertising initiatives.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? I appreciate Nike’s longstanding commitment to deeply emotive and human cross-platform campaigns. The stories the brand has committed to telling are just impossible to ignore. Most recently, the legacy messaging in support of Serena Williams’s retirement hit home with me—the line “By changing nothing, she changed everything” carries such empowerment weight to me. Without question, Nike is the only brand whose advertising has consistently inspired me—personally and professionally—and sometimes driven me to tears.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? I love reality television—the trashier and mindless the better. It started with Survivor when I was in middle school and high school and lasts to this day with such “classics” as Love Is Blind, Selling Sunset, and, my personal favorite, Below Deck (in all of its permutations). I try to excuse my passion by saying that it helps me “turn my brain off,” but truth be told, I actually just enjoy the “art form” that is reality TV.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? I genuinely appreciate the forced evolution in marketing caused by consumer privacy regulation. Marketing sacrificed much of its “art” in search of greater and greater—measurable—efficiency. Signal loss means we as marketers have to work harder to earn the attention of target customers and explore new and different ways to delight. That’s so incredibly healthy.

I’m not yet sold on the long term of the metaverse. I love AR and VR tools, and I’m on the edge of my seat awaiting Apple’s entry into the market, but I cannot wrap my mind around the idea that we as human beings will elect to spend a greater percentage of our time in a non-tangible environment when the tangible offers so much majesty.

Scrolling through Instagram these days seems like walking through a maze of sponsored content and posts you don’t necessarily care about.

Being a brand, especially a fashion brand, that can stand out in this tsunami of content can be tough. But that’s where California-based luxury womenswear brand Simon Miller shines the most. From colorful and modern ready-to-wear to swimwear and accessories, the brand has a bold yet stylish aesthetic that’s hard to miss.

Backtrack: The brand got its start as a denim label in 2008, but when creative director and CEO Chelsea Hansford came on board in 2013, it bid adieu to both denim and menswear to become the luxury womenswear-only brand it is today.

• “I always wanted to build a lifestyle brand,” Hansford told Retail Brew. “That was my main mission, and I have a very distinct aesthetic that I think crosses over way more than just clothes. A lot of my inspiration comes from home and interior and [is] less fine art but more architecture, furniture, sculptures, things like that.”

A lot has factored into Simon Miller’s success. Over the years, the retailer has shifted from a wholesale-only strategy to a mix of 60% wholesale and 40% DTC. While it maintains a presence in stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, it is also experimenting with popups across LA and New York.

And while Hansford realizes it’s a challenge to keep the brand going, faced with the ever-shifting economic environment, she has a few strategies on hand. In an interview, she broke down her top four tactics that make the brand tick in the age of digital saturation and TikTok dances. Click here to read what she had to say.—JS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Clock app: Read up on TikTok’s new Creativity Program Beta, the platform’s latest monetization tool for creators.

Linked up: Get up to speed on Google’s expanded SEO Link Best Practices.

Compare and contrast: This template can help you create your own competitive social media analysis.

Connect digital ecosystems: Is your marketing technology holding your teams back? Join Bynder and martech expert Scott Brinker on Feb. 23 to learn about digital asset management and setting up your tech stack for a successful year. Register today.*

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Diversity in the advertising and marketing industry is improving, but there’s still a long way to go. In 2022, what percentage of marketers and advertisers were from diverse ethnic backgrounds?

1. 19%
2. 27%
3. 32%
4. 37%

Keep scrolling for the answer.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• How brands used music and sonic logos in their Super Bowl ads this year
• Entertainment companies are eager to make virtual product placement happen
• Why inserts, aka the ads slipped into packages, are having a moment